Vintage Surf meet 2019 coming soon !

Vintage Surf meet 2019 coming soon !
Free to take part
We buy interesting old boards 60s/70s/early 80s in good condition. Email alasdairlindsay75@gmail.com . Also wanted - Surfing UK , British Surfer and Surf Insight magazines .
Above photo - copyright Rennie Ellis photographer archive

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Atlantic by Charles Williams

 This rare and progressive little board was shaped at Atlantic surfboards in St Ives, Cornwall in around 1971. A really beautiful shape ,it doesnt have the extremes and wierdness which some of the boards of this era have. By this I mean some of the extreme s-decks, crazy rocker or huge fin which you sometimes get on sub 6 ft boards of the early 70s. Whether Charles Williams shaped it or one of the Aussies who worked there I dont know as its not signed, but they were a good shaper. The board is also in amazing condition; most Atlantics you see look like they've lived in a St Ives garden for years and been passed to generations of local groms as a learner plank.
Nice organic lettering with trippy lava lamp bubbles and a heart above the i; we can assume that a fair amount of recreational drug use was happening at the time ! This feel is added to by the acid washes on both sides, although the pinlining is precise and beautifully done. The board is 5'9 x 20 1/2 in. and is a rare survivor from a factory which produced from the mid 60s to the early 70s. Mabye because St Ives it so far west there wasnt alot of passing trade so the label struggled a bit in comparison to north Cornwall and Devon labels.




1969 British Surfer
Charles Williams founder of Atlantic, 1969 Surfing UK magazine
Early 70s comp, from BSA archives - some important UK surfers who had their own labels - Colin Wilson (5 Star), Charles Williams (Atlantic), Tigger Newling (Tig, Jolly Good), John Nile, Graham Nile (Graham Nile surfboards), Tim Heyland (Tiki).

5 comments:

  1. A friend had a board being made 'round about this period in the Atlantic "factory" at Penbeagle, we called in one evening to see how it was progressing. On opening the door we were knocked over not only by the volume of the music (Chicago II) but also by the mushroom cloud of smoke.....i can confirm substances were consumed.
    The board took a little while to be finished!

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  2. P.S. The memorable track being played was "Fancy Colours"

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  3. Classic, sounds like the guys had fun working there !

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  4. i'm pretty sure that the ones made with this logo were shaped by charles himself, he mentioned something like that to me when i showed him my one with the same logo. when i see him next i'll ask.

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  5. Check out this one for sale:
    https://www.gumtree.com/p/surfboards-windsurfs/1960s-vintage-atlantic-surfboards-surfboard/1143857970

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